Be the Fire: August 13, 2023

Year A, Pentecost 11                         1 Kings 19:9-18  

        Elijah was depressed. There is no way to get around it. Our reading begins in verse 9 of chapter 18. Just a few verses before, Elijah, wearied by a long journey, collapsed under a broom tree, which is really a bush and asked God if he could die. He said, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” He then fell asleep under that bush. If you had read the previous chapter, this might surprise you. It would seem he should been flying high. In the last chapter he had won an epic show down where he defeated 450 prophets of Baal. Elijah was trying to prove that his God was more powerful than this fake god Baal. 

        So they had a little contest, who could set the altar on fire. Baal had 450 prophets trying to make it happen and they failed. Elijah was alone, but God rained down fire, thus allowing Elijah to win the contest. One would think this would have been a shining moment in his career. He had not just won, he had proved a point. He could say I told you so. I mean really, how often do we ask for a sign and not get it? Wouldn’t it be nice if just once God could rain down some fire to prove we are right? I don’t want anyone to get hurt, I just want it to be clear that God has my back and now everyone can see the proof. Elijah got that clear sign…why was he so depressed? 

         What happened between that astounding accomplishment and Elijah collapsing under a bush and wanting to die? The only thing we know for sure is that King Ahab told his wife Jezebel about Elijah’s defeat of the prophets of Baal and she was very upset. She threatened Elijah. While no one likes to be threatened, Elijah had been through worse at this point. It doesn’t seem like that would be the thing that would drive him to despair. 

         Some have hypothesized that it was burn out. While Elijah had performed some incredible miracles and provided powerful prophesies, the hearts and the minds of people had not changed. King Ahab and Jezebel were still leading the country in the entirely wrong direction and not taking the warnings or advice of Elijah seriously. King Ahab had abandoned the one true God and not even Elijah’s showdown could convince him to return. Elijah was tired. God responded to his weariness and despair. First God provided some food and water, which is always a good thing. Then Elijah journeyed for 40 days to a cave. At this point God decided to engage him in conversation by simply asking him what he was doing there. 

         Elijah responded, “I have been very zealous for the LORD; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” Not only did he not answer the question, but what he was saying wasn’t entirely true. The Israelites hadn’t all forsaken God. Many had, but not all. And they hadn’t killed all the prophets. Elijah was the one who defeated the prophets of Baal. Things were not nearly as bad as Elijah was describing. But that’s how it is when you are depressed…you focus on the worst things that are happening and you can’t see past those things. God knew he needed to shake him up a bit. 

         So he threw powerful signs his way. First there was a great wind, and then an earthquake and finally fire. The text says that the Lord wasn’t in any of those things. Of course he wasn’t. God sent those things, but God wasn’t in those things. Then there was sheer silence. When Elijah heard the silence, he left the cave. Now there are a lot of different interpretations of the Hebrew phrase that was translated to sheer silence. Many have translated that Hebrew phrase to a still small voice and then gone on to explain that God wasn’t in the big displays of power, but the quiet, the small voice, the voice you have to really work to hear. 

         But notice, the text doesn’t say God was in the silence. It simply says that Elijah left the cave after the silence, which makes sense. Who leaves the safety of a cave when there is a fierce storm? It would appear that Elijah is not changed at all by this experience. God asked again what he’s doing there and Elijah gives the exact same non answer as before. Elijah didn’t hear the still small voice of God. Or if he did, it had no major impact on his thinking. But he did leave the cave. God got him out of the cave. And often, that is the most important and hardest step, leaving the safe confines of our own despair and self-loathing. 

         Since Elijah remained unchanged, God changed tactics again---no more wind, fire, earthquakes or silence, God gave Elijah a new purpose. God told him to anoint a new king and also a new prophet. God knew what Elijah needed. He didn’t need a pep talk or even a display of God’s power and majesty. Elijah had been the very tool of God’s displays of terrific power. No, Elijah needed direction and help. He needed a reminder that not only was he not alone, but there was someone who needed his guidance and support. It’s true, his role as a prophet was coming to an end, but it was not yet over. He had more work to do. 

         My friends, there are times in all our lives when we would do almost anything for the kind of signs that God displayed to Elijah. We would do anything for a direct conversation that would give us an epiphany. But that didn’t work with Elijah. It didn’t work when Elijah tried it with others and it didn’t work when God tried it on him. What worked for Elijah, was discovering his purpose by finding someone else to guide and help. We will find very few earthquakes in our lives, but there will be no shortage of people who need us. There is always plenty of work to be done. The harvest is plentiful. If you find yourself in a cave, don’t wait for a magnificent sign. Don’t even wait for the sheer silence. Instead, get some food, get some sleep and then get out of the cave. I don’t care how spacious and comfy that cave is. God needs us, each one of us---to get out of that cave and find someone else who needs help getting out of their cave. I promise you, there are all kinds of people stuck in caves and you might be the person who will be the fire, or the wind, or the earthquake that they need. We can’t wait for the fire or the wind or even the silence. Instead, let’s stop waiting for a sign because God is already here. God is with us. Stop waiting for the fire. Be the fire.

*This idea of burn out and God’s prescription for burnout comes from: Interpretation Commentary: First and Second Kings by Richard Nelson   p. 123-129

Learning to Change: August 20, 2017

Year A, Pentecost 11                                                 
Matthew 15:10-28                                                     

            When I was little and I heard the story of the birth of Jesus, I thought he simply dropped out of heaven. There was no real birth.  One minute the manger was full of hay and the next minute there was a baby.  I never thought of him growing up, being a toddler, or an adolescent.  Part of the reason is that the Bible tells us almost nothing about Jesus before he turned 30.  He was a baby.  Then he was 12.  Then he was 30.  Some people believe that there were stories about Jesus as a child, but they did not make it into the Bible because he was a child, doing childish things.  For instance according to these stories, when a child spurned him, he retaliated.  When he got in trouble for making clay pigeons on the Sabbath, he turned the clay pigeons into living birds, because he could.[1]  These stories speak of a child learning how to handle his power. It makes sense.  If Jesus was fully human, then he had to learn and grow.  He had to change. He was not born in the body of 30 year old, nor was he born with the mind of a 30 year old man.

There were also occasions where other people encouraged him to change. One example is the wedding feast.  It’s a familiar story.  They ran out of wine.  His mother asked Jesus to turn water into wine.  He said, no this is not my time. He did not think he was ready. His mother persisted and he agreed. He performed his first public miracle at the request of his mother.  Another example is our reading from today. Jesus had left his home turf and was in the region of Sidon.  This is important because this is an area that was populated by Gentiles, not Jews.  These were people that good Jews did not interact with.  The disciples had probably never been in a place like this. 

            As soon as he got there, a woman came to him, shouting “Have mercy on me Lord, Son of David, my daughter is tormented by demons.”  I am sure that he noticed that she was using the Jewish title for him.  “Son of David.” She knew who he was.  Despite that, he tried to ignore her. That was the easy thing to do, maybe even the polite thing to do.  He did not want to have to tell someone that he could not help her. 

Yet this Gentile woman, was relentless.  She could not take a hint. She kept coming at him and by now she had everyone’s attention, even the disciples.  They wanted him to just get rid of her. He tried. He told her the party line. He was just there for the people of Israel.  She could not be deterred.  She knelt at his feet…his feet.  There was no avoiding her.  He said, “It is not fair to take the children’s crumbs and throw it to the dogs.” That was what they called Gentiles.  Jews called Gentiles dogs because dogs were dirty.  They did not keep the purity laws. The children were the Jewish people, the chosen people.  His first duty was to the children—the Jews. 

            Instead of acting offended or lashing out, this woman chose another tactic.  She responded, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.” She understood and acknowledged what no one else had. That even if he was meant to tend to the Jewish people first, there was more than enough mercy to meet the needs of the rest of the world.  Even the crumbs, the tossed off waste of his abundant love was enough….enough for her, her daughter, and the world. 

            And here is when it gets tricky.  Jesus, the all-knowing, all powerful Messiah learned something in that moment.  All along, he believed that he was there for the lost sheep of Israel.  They were his primary mission. Yet he saw something in this woman. He saw perseverance, courage, faith and knowledge.  She understood him and his ministry better than the Pharisees, perhaps even better than the disciples. She knew that his love was so great, so powerful, that there was enough to go around.  She helped him see something that he had not yet seen.  Because of that he saw not just a woman kneeling at his feet, but a beloved child of God who was ready to hear his message and experience his mercy. 

            The reason people struggle with the idea of Jesus changing his mind is that implies that he not was right to begin with.  It means he was imperfect, that he was not all-knowing. Yet I believe that he was that much more powerful because he was open to change.  He was willing to learn, willing to learn from a woman, a Gentile, willing to let go of a belief that one ethnicity was better than another, willing to accept that his love was without limit.  There was enough to go around. He did not have to wait for the Jews to accept him before moving on to the next group. He could start his ministry to the Gentiles now.

As a church, we are called to be disciples of Christ, to follow his example.  Part of following this example, is being willing to change and to let go of our prejudice and fear.  Our world is a scary place.  Just this week, ISIS killed 13 people and wounded 100 in an attack on a popular street in Spain.  They gave no reason.  You don’t need a reason when your heart is full of hate.

Before that we experienced our own terror right here in Virginia.  We saw a display of hate that while not unprecedented, was certainly a wake-up call for those who thought that kind of racism was a thing of the past.  When I was a on a mission trip in Appalachia several years ago, I was driving alone looking for one of our groups. I was lost because GPS did not work there.  I drove down a stranger’s driveway hoping I could get some directions. Instead I ran into a member of the KKK.  He was not wearing a white hood, nor was he burning a cross.  He just wanted to share that I had wandered onto the property of a clansman. I was terrified, and I am a white Christian.  I kept thinking, what would have happened if our African American youth was with me in that car. I told myself that this man was just some crazy guy in the hills of West Virginia. 

Yet just last week, we saw it on a college campus.  We saw in on our newsfeed, twitter, facebook.  Hate was on full display.  The root of that hate is the belief that one group is better than the other, that one group is more deserving of God’s love.  Two thousand years ago, Jesus started something. He started to dismantle prejudice.  He told people that they were loved, no matter what they looked like, or who they were related to. He told people that they were to love their neighbor and their enemy.  As his disciples, we are called to continue his work.  Much like the woman who was seeking mercy, we cannot relent.  We must persist.  Like Jesus, we have to look at the prejudices within ourselves.  While we cannot produce miracles, we can bring healing to our community and our broken world. The first step in that healing, is acknowledging the brokenness.  In our Eucharistic Prayer for today, the priest says, “But we turned against you, and we betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another.” Then we break the bread as a symbol of Jesus broken on the cross, as a symbol of our own brokenness. That is not how it ends.  The way the prayer ends is that we all come to the altar. We all partake in the love that Jesus shared.   We become vessels of his love and grace. 

As those vessels, we have a responsibility to carry that love and grace.  While God’s love and grace has no limit, each person has a limit to the pain that they can bear.  No Jew should have to see someone wield a swastika, a symbol of their intended annihilation.  No African American should have to hear racial slurs hurled at them. Sometimes God’s grace looks like us, standing between hate and the recipients of hate. 

---

[1] The Infancy Gospel of Thomas: http://gnosis.org/library/inftoma.htm

 

August 24, 2014: Exodus 1:8-2:10

What it Means to Have Power

Year A Pentecost 11  

 

            It would be easy to read this story from Exodus and say that it is a story about Moses.  After all, it is the first time we see Moses’ names and he’s clearly the star.  We know what happens after Moses grows up.  He ends up leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt.  But this story is not about Moses.  Then it must be about Pharaoh.  He’s an important guy, clearly very powerful. It’s not about Pharaoh either.  If it was about Pharaoh, we would probably have a name for him.  We don’t.  This story is not about the powerful.  It is about the powerless, at least the people who were perceived to be powerless.

            It is full of irony and intrigue.  It starts with a new Pharaoh who did not know Joseph, which means he did not know the story of Joseph.  He did not know how this Israelite had actually saved Egypt from a devastating famine, which brought more Israelites to Egypt.  This Pharaoh was probably only alive because of the actions of an Israelite who lived long ago.  He was at a disadvantage because of his self-inflicted ignorance.  He also seemed a bit paranoid, or possibly just horribly insecure.  He was worried that if the Israelites continued to increase in number, they would join the enemies of Egypt and overthrow them.  So he oppressed them, because as we know that is always an effective way to keep people in line.  He also hoped that by working them so much, they would not procreate as much…they would not have the time and energy.  Alas, this plan did not work.  The more they were oppressed, the more numerous they got. 

The Pharaoh called on two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah.  Midwives were usually women who were barren.  Barren women were pretty much the lowest social status you could be in this time since a woman’s main reason for being was procreation.  The Pharaoh asked these women to kill all the male babies.  The girls did not concern him. The midwives feared God more than they feared Pharaoh. 

A lot of people are uncomfortable with the idea of fear of God.  The word translated to fear is a tricky one.  There is no direct translation, no English word that really works.  A translation that might be more understandable is honor. They honored God more than they honored Pharaoh.  They knew that the Pharaoh’s power was temporary and God’s was eternal. They did not tell him that they refused.  They just didn’t obey. When Pharaoh realized all these baby boys were still being born, he brought them back in and questioned them.  Their response is pretty hysterical.  They essentially said, “The Hebrew women are just popping them out so fast, the baby is delivered before we even get there.”  Apparently he bought that.

The Pharaoh then called on the Egyptian people to throw every male baby in the Nile so that they would drown.  One woman hid her child and put him in a basket in the Nile River.  When we hear basket, we think of a flimsy wicker thing.   This was no ordinary basket.   The Hebrew word translated to basket is the very same word that is translated to ark in the story of Noah and the Ark.  Clearly, the mother of Moses had put some time and effort into this little ark.  She wanted this child to be carried to safety, much like God wanted that ark to carry the people and animals to safety. 

As luck would have it, the daughter of the Pharaoh just happened to be bathing by the river and she saw this little ark passing by.  Of course, we know it had nothing to do with luck.  God wanted her to be there. She knew that this was a Hebrew child, a child that her father had ordered to death.  But compassion moved her when she saw him and heard his cries.  I am sure she knew about her father’s policy, but seeing the effects of this horrific policy must been more than she could bear. So she pulled him out of the river.  She knew that the ark while sturdy, could not last forever without her intervention.  So the daughter of the Pharaoh disobeyed her own father and saved the one man that would end up delivering an entire nation. 

It is fascinating to me that while the Pharaoh was so intent on killing all the males, it was the females, the ones who were already alive, who would be the means of his undoing.  He feared that the Israelites would become so numerous that they would create an army.  They didn’t need an army.  They needed a couple of women who were considered completely powerless who would risk their own safety to save a child and to honor God.   The Pharaoh’s daughter was probably not a worshipper of the one true God, but maybe she was.  Jewish rabbis have surmised that she was at the river to cleanse herself of idolatry because she had discovered the one true God.  There is absolutely no evidence to prove this, but it’s an interesting idea.  What we know is that she was moved by compassion, a compassion that moved her to sacrifice her own interests for that of another. That is love in its truest sense.  That is God.

There is another theory that the rabbis have for this story.  They wrote that it was not the maid of the Pharaoh’s daughter who pulled the baby out of the water. It was actually her own arm. However, her arm extended to double or triple its length as she went to reach for this child allowing her to pull him out of the river.  We hear the phrase divine intervention all the time.  But God has always been fond of using human intervention for his divine purposes.  Sure, he could have destroyed Pharaoh in some fantastic way and then carried the people of Israel in a cloud to the Promised Land.  That is not how God operates.  God likes humans to intervene.

God especially loves to use those people who would be considered powerless by most.  Those Hebrew midwives had nothing but their courage and their faith in God.  Moses’ mother had nothing but courage, love and faith. The daughter of the Pharaoh probably had more power than most women in that time, but it was still not very much.  The power that each woman had was her willingness to risk her life for another.  That is a power that God honors.  That is the power that Jesus wielded centuries later to save all humanity.

There are so many times in life when people do not act because they feel powerless.  They are powerless to change themselves or their lives or the world around them.  God proves again and again that power does not come with wealth, prestige or connections but in an openness to the will of God, to the possibility of something more. We think that we can only reach as far as our arm will extend.  Yet when we reach our arm out in love, God will always stretch us in ways that we never expected.  We will find that we are more powerful than we ever imagined.